Have you ever had a bad case of the gimmies?
If you have never heard of the disease you need to read The Berenstain Bears Get The Gimmies. Stan and Jan Berenstain are the creators of this wonderful series of children’s books. The stories chronicle the life of the Bear Family: Papa, Mama, Brother and Sister. In this particular tale, selfish Brother and Sister are forever wanting more. If it’s not “gimmie this” or “gimmie that,” it's “Whaja-bringme? Whaja-bringme?” When Gran and Gramps arrive, Papa’s embarrassed and Mama is fed up. And why not? The cubs have a bad case of the galloping greedy gimmies.
Papa sits down his cubs and tries to talk sense into them: " 'Selfish, greedy cubs,' he explained, 'can never be happy, because you just can’t have everything you want all the time – life isn’t like that. Do you understand?' The cubs nod their heads, 'Yes we understand.'" But you know they don’t!
Take one look at the U.S. economy and you’ll agree that this disease is not particular to the Berenstain Bears, or to boys and girls. Grown-ups get the gimmies too! Just take a peek at the U.S. National Debt Clock.
I can hear Papa Bear saying the same thing to us, "Selfish greedy cubs can never be happy because you just can’t have everything you want all the time – life isn’t like that."
Jesus was well aware of the gimmies. Here's what he has to say:
Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."(Luke 12:13-15 NIV)
And in another place:
"It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35 NLT)
In the Berenstain Bears book, Mama and Papa finally solved the cubs’ problems by setting limits on how much Brother or Sister could get. Not a bad idea, but Jesus takes an even better approach. He solves the problem of the gimmies by telling his kids to give.
STAY FOCUSED TODAY: Reign in the galloping greedy gimmies. Determine to give away three things.